All the Devils' hottest news, from notes to numbers to neutral-zone traps

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Left wing Patrik Elias is practicing with the team today in Colorado after missing the last seven games with what the team called “total body soreness.” And right wing Damien Brunner might not be far behind.

Brunner has resumed skating and continues to make good progress in his recovery from a right knee injury he sustained on Dec. 20 against Anaheim.

Lamoriello has said several times that, though Brunner’s recovery has been ahead of schedule, “once you get to 90 percent, the last 10 percent is the hardest.”

But he said of Brunner today, “He’s really pushing and helping that last 10 percent along.”

The initial diagnosis for Brunner's recovery was approximately four weeks. Friday will be four weeks since he was injured.

Defenseman Peter Harrold, who has been out since Dec. 7 with a fractured right foot, also has been skating on his own and is moving closer to being ready to play.

Brunner was injured on a knee on knee hit from Anaheim defenseman Mark Fistric in the first period of a 3-2 overtime loss to the Ducks. He had been hot before that, scoring four goals in his previous four games to bust out of a 17-game goal drought.

Elias appeared to injure his right shoulder or neck when he fell into the boards on a hit from Pittsburgh’s Tanner Glass on Dec. 31, but said the next day his lower body was “more sore” than his upper body. Elias initially thought he would not be out long, but hasn’t played now for two weeks.

Lamoriello said the decision on whether Elias will play in Thursday night’s game against the Avalanche won’t be made until the coaching staff sees how he fares in today’s practice. As I mentioned last night, I wasn't able make it to Denver in time for the practice (I'm awaiting my last connecting flight right now), but I’ll try to pass along whatever information I can gather afterward.

***Defenseman Adam Larsson remains with Albany for now as he continues to work his way back from a left knee injury he sustained on Nov. 23 in Anaheim. He’s played three games with Albany so far, putting up four assists.

“He played well the first two games, but then he was a little tired in the third,” Lamoriello said. “That’s understandable. He hadn’t played in a while.”

Lamoriello didn’t know yet how much longer Larsson, 21, will remain in Albany, but said they might as well take advantage of being able to let him get his game back in the AHL – an option teams don’t have with veteran players because they’d have to clear waivers to be sent down or take up a spot on the NHL roster while going to the AHL on a conditioning assignment.

“We’re going to get him back into playing form and then get him back (to the NHL),” Lamoriello said.

***Although there were some reports out of Sweden and the Czech Republic that the Devils were in negotiations to allow left wing Mattias Tedenby to leave Albany to play in the KHL with HC Lev Praha, Lamoriello denied any such discussions took play and said Tedenby will be remaining in the organization.

Tedenby, the Devils’ 2008 first-round draft pick, cleared non-roster waivers on Jan. 4 and was assigned to Albany. He has five goals and two assists in seven AHL games this season.

***The NHL sent out a memo to all of its teams prior to this season informing them that any player who plays in 15 of the team’s final 20 game before the Olympic break will not be eligible to be sent to the AHL during that layoff.

Lamoriello confirmed that will impact some of the decisions to be made with the organization’s young players in the days leading up to the break, “but it won’t prevent us from dressing our best lineup.”

The Devils have 11 games left before the Olympic break, so even Larsson were to be called up for the next game, he would be eligible to play in the AHL during the break – if the team wanted him to do that.

About

TOM GULITTI has covered the New Jersey Devils for The Record since 2002. Prior to that, he covered the New York Rangers for four years. Gulitti joined The Record in 1998 after six years at The North Jersey Herald News. He graduated from Binghamton University in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric-Literature.